DelDOT upgrades approved by Middletown mayor and council

The new plans for the Middletown Crew Quarters and Maintenance Shop project include a sprinkler system, an added water line and a fire service line. They also include more landscaping to shield the buildings from the road and residential area of Cricklewood.

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By Kim Manahan

Middletown Transcript

By Kim Manahan

Posted Oct. 3, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Updated Oct 3, 2012 at 11:01 AM

By Kim Manahan

Posted Oct. 3, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Updated Oct 3, 2012 at 11:01 AM

Middletown, Del.

The third time was a charm for plans to upgrade the DelDOT maintenance yard on Summit Bridge Road.

Middletown Mayor and Council approved the record major land development plan Monday night.

The new plans for the Middletown Crew Quarters and Maintenance Shop project include a sprinkler system, an added water line and a fire service line. They also include more landscaping to shield the buildings from the road and residential area of Cricklewood.

These additions were made to address resident and town concerns.

Original blueprints for the project did not include a sprinkler system in the crew quarters, which worried mayor and council and local firefighters.

The Preliminary plans to revamp the DelDOT maintenance yard on Summit Bridge Road were approved by Middletown mayor and council in April.

The $2 million project will replace the current maintenance shop and office and also the crew trailer with two new buildings, said Manager of Public Relations Michael Williams.

It will create a shop building and crew quarters, each in separate buildings, on the 80-acre site.

The existing building was built in the 1960s and is in need of an upgrade, said Sean McEvilly, project engineer with Johnson, Marmiran & Thompson.

The proposed front building would house the radio room, managers' offices and the crew's sleeping quarters. The back building would be used for maintenance.

Currently, everything is in one building.

The current maintenance building has six bays, but because they are cramped together, it is hard to use all of them at once, McEvilly said. The new one would have four bays, but with greater separation.

A sprinkler system was not included in the plans presented in April.

The initial plans passed through planning and zoning March 15 with recommendations that a sprinkler system be added to the crew's sleeping quarters.